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Modeling the Crust and Upper Mantle in Northern Beata Ridge (CARIBE NORTE Project)

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Abstract

The complex tectonic region of NE Caribbean, where Hispaniola and Puerto Rico are located, is bordered by subduction zone with oblique convergence in the north and by incipient subduction zone associated to Muertos Trough in the south. Central Caribbean basin is characterized by the presence of a prominent topographic structure known as Beata Ridge, whose oceanic crustal thickness is unusual. The northern part of Beata Ridge is colliding with the central part of Hispaniola along a transverse NE alignment, which constitutes a morphostructural limit, thus producing the interruption of the Cibao Valley and the divergence of the rivers and basins in opposite directions. The direction of this alignment coincides with the discontinuity that could explain the extreme difference between west and east seismicity of the island. Different studies have provided information about Beata Ridge, mainly about the shallow structure from MCS data. In this work, CARIBE NORTE (2009) wide-angle seismic data are analyzed along a WNW-ESE trending line in the northern flank of Beata Ridge, providing a complete tectonic view about shallow, middle and deep structures. The results show clear tectonic differences between west and east separated by Beata Island. In the Haiti Basin area, sedimentary cover is strongly influenced by the bathymetry and its thickness decreases toward to the island. In this area, the Upper Mantle reaches 20 km deep increasing up to 24 km below the island where the sedimentary cover disappears. To the east, the three seamounts of Beata Ridge provoke the appearance of a structure completely different where sedimentary cover reaches thicknesses of 4 km between seamounts and Moho rises up to 13 km deep. This study has allowed to determine the Moho topography and to characterize seismically the first upper mantle layers along the northern Beata Ridge, which had not been possible with previous MCS data.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is a contribution to the projects CTM2006-13666-C02-02, complementary action (CTM2008-02955-E/MAR) and TSUJAL (CGL2011-29474-C02-01). We express special thanks to the Captain, officers, and crew of the R/V Hespérides, the technicians of the Unidad de Tecnología Marina and the CARIBE NORTE working group. We are also grateful for their collaboration with Dirección General de Minería, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Instituto Sismológico Universitario (ISU) and Marina de Guerra Dominicana who provided two coastguard vessels 106-BELLATRIX and 109-ORION. D. Núñez was funded with a doctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. We thank to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dpto. Física de la Tierra, Astronomía y Astrofísica I (Geofísica y Meteorología), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Complutense s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Diana Núñez, Diego Córdoba & Mario Octavio Cotilla

  2. Real Observatorio e Instituto de la Armada, C/Cecilio Pujazón, s/n, 11100, San Fernando, Spain

    Antonio Pazos

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  1. Diana Núñez
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  2. Diego Córdoba
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Correspondence to Diana Núñez.

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Núñez, D., Córdoba, D., Cotilla, M.O. et al. Modeling the Crust and Upper Mantle in Northern Beata Ridge (CARIBE NORTE Project). Pure Appl. Geophys. 173, 1639–1661 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-015-1180-0

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